Deadly Desires

by Joshua Peck

  So how have you been doing otherwise Greg? How is the painting career going. I imagine you’re very successful and that can be really good or very bad.

  Chapter 7: As The World Turns

  Dr. Mitchell sat at his desk of his high-rise apartment enjoying a nice aged scotch. He was looking out the window at the cityscape below. He said to himself “ahhh this is the life” as he took a deep breath in and exhaled. Dr. Mitchell was a portly man with a bald head. He had a cream colored complexion and his hair was thinning a great deal. He didn’t seem like the type to take a morning or evening jog. He had fat fingers that clasped the glass of scotch firmly and made it look like he was holding a child’s glass.

  There was a rustling that went through the hallway and Dr. Mitchell shouted “Who’s there! I have a gun and I’m not afraid to use it. There was a running through the hallway again and all you could see was a black blur. There was a giggle that echoed through the hallway. “Come play doc! Come on it will be fun”

  “I don’t know who you are but I have a clean shot and I will shoot” said Dr. Mitchell with fear. “Go ahead and shoot doc, you’ll miss” said the blur. All of a sudden the blur came up to the doc face to face and shouted BOO. He had red eyes, white teeth, and a black cape with a hood. Dr. Mitchell fell over and started to have a heart attack. “awww did I scare someone. Well maybe you shouldn’t have unlocked me” the blur said as his red eyes and white sharp teeth glowed brightly. “I’ll leave you to your dying as I leave and go back to my box. Thank you for everything doc” the blur said.

  Chapter 8: Dead End

  “He died of a heart attack” said Detective Johnson.

  “The coroner puts his death around 11pm” said Detective Michaels.

  “Who was the last patient to see him alive” says Detective Johnson with curiosity

  “Well he has had the last few days off but his book says Greg Harris was the last one to see him” said Detective Michaels with intrigue.

  “His secretary was worried about him because he hadn’t been in to see patients. She thought he may have fell off the wagon and went on an alcohol bender again. She went to check on him and found him lying on the floor. By the look of the scotch bottle she was right. It’s almost empty. He could have died from anything” said Detective Johnson with concern.

  “Let’s go talk to this Greg guy. Maybe he knows something” said Detective Michaels.

  “Are you sure that the secretary, an ex-wife, or any old patients wouldn’t be better people to question?” said Detective Johnson.

  “Well I guess we got a lot of work to do” said Detective Michaels.

  Chapter 9: Big Ego

  I got home to my dull and drab apartment. About 10 minutes later there was a knock at the door. It was rather strange to have a knock at this time of night. I didn’t expect any visitors or have many people who would visit. I looked through the peephole and it was two guys in cheap suits. They looked like detectives, but I wasn’t really sure! I opened the door and asked “Ya what do you want?”.

  “Well aren’t you a peach. Are you Greg Harris?” said Detective Michaels.

  “Ya and you both are who?” I said quickly. I didn’t like visitors who seemed hasty.

  “We are detective Michaels and Detective Johnson. We want to know when is the last time you seen Dr. Mitchell” said Detective Michaels calmly.

  “Well I seen him a few days ago in the afternoon. What happened to him?” I said with a worried voice.

  “He died of a heart attack, but his apartment was ransacked and it looked like it was robbed. Anyone you know who would do something bad to him?” said Detective Johnson.

  “No, all I know is he was going to take a few days off” I said to them. I was trying to remain as calm as possible. I didn’t want to be a suspect and I didn’t want to tell them about some box who may or may not have come for his soul. They would find me a padded room for sure.

  “He died of a heart attack, but it looks like he died of fear. It looks like it might have been an attack. He has scratch marks on his arm” said Detective Michaels.

  “Well I am sorry for his loss. He was an amazing doctor even though I only had two sessions. Can you give his family my condolences” I said with sadness. I felt really bad for him. I wish that the doctor hadn’t given me this box after all. I wished that I had listened to him. I really should listen to him, but I wanted to wish for something else. I really wasn’t sure if it was a good idea though. Maybe if it was just an open ended or ambiguous wish it would be able to be easily fulfilled and nothing bad would happen. “Magic Box I wish…”

  Chapter 10: Second Wish

  I was confused by what just happened. Who would want to kill Dr. Mitchell? I didn't believe his bogus bull crap about the box coming back to collect your soul. It was just mere coincidence he died. Oh ya back to my wish. "Magic box I wish I was happy" I said smiling sarcastically. That was vague enough to work and not backfire. ""Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. When you get it you might not know what to do with it. And it might just come back on you ten-fold" the box said loudly. “Just grant me the wish” I said irritated.

  Again I fell asleep and when I did I crashed hard. What is with these sudden pass outs? Were these wishes that exhausting? Glad I didn’t wish for unlimited wealth, I would be out for days! I woke up a few hours later and I really didn’t feel any different. I guess this wish was a fluke after all, or was the box a fluke? I decided the only thing to do was get rid of the damn box. I decided I would take a car ride and throw it out of the window. Ya that would work out just fine. Maybe some hobo would find it and make a wish or try and open it. I would even attach a note to it. This was a great idea. I didn’t want to end up like Dr. Mitchell. That would be a horrible fate. Better yet the box creature might come back after me and do something worse. I didn’t know and I wasn’t waiting to find out. Ok get a hold of yourself your talking delusional.

  I got out a pen and paper and wrote a short note.

  “To whom it may concern,

  If you find this box you are entitled to 3 wishes. Use them wisely and be careful what you wish for. When you wish don’t wish for anything to do wish love, money, reversing time, or bringing back the dead. This is not a joke. I got rid of the box and I suggest you don’t even bother with it or lock it up. It’s Dangerous!!

  Sincerely,

  Greg”

  I taped the note around the box securely and I didn’t feel any remorse doing it. I borrowed my neighbor’s car and I happily got into the front seat. I put the box in the front seat of my car and I drove out into the middle of town. I threw the box over a bridge and it fell into the grass and rolled down the hill. I felt a sigh of relief because finally it was gone! I hoped someone would find it. I thought I heard the box say “Curse You”. I honestly didn’t care what happened next because the box was out of my hands.

  Chapter 11: Terra

  It was 10:30 am and it was a rather dark and dreary day. It was quite rainy outside. Terra Andrews sat at her desk listening to her statistics lecture almost falling asleep. She didn’t understand why she had to take this. She understood math better than most people. In order to graduate she had to take a math elective and she didn’t want to take a calculus or linear algebra class. She was happy to take the class though. There was a cute guy named Mike who sat next to her. She just wished he would pay attention to her.

  She sat there listening to the boring lecture and waited for the instructor to finally say that class was over. It was only 10 minutes, but it felt like hours. Finally everyone was dismissed and she left for the door. She wanted to go to Denny’s and get breakfast. She was really hungry. She had 2 morning classes back to back and then she had 2 evening classes. The college was walking distance from all the major restaurants, so she decided to walk instead of take her car.

  As she walked she paid attention to the ground very adamantly. She did this quite often looking out for money, rare coins, and other trinkets. She spotte
d an odd looking box with a note attached to it. She read the note and she thought to herself that the note was just a bluff. She decided to put the box in her book bag though. She liked the look of the box. It had an old vintage quality to it that. It was red, black, and gold. It had some strange Sanskrit writing on it. She didn’t know what it meant, but she would look it up. She imagined that the box wasn’t dangerous at all. Genies lamps weren’t bad, they were just misunderstood. She walked quickly to Denny’s now and when she got there she was seated by a nice waitress name Dana. She ordered a Moons over Myhammy meal with a side order of pancakes and sausage. She also ordered a large black coffee with three sugar. She needed the caffeine fix.

  When she got her meal, she ate it like a lion attacking a gazelle. She had a voracious appetite, and she seemed hungrier than usual. Patrons around her were even surprised by the amount of food. She wanted to just eat in peace and get back to the college. She had a lot of studying to do and she wanted to figure out what this box said.

  She finished her meal, paid her bill and left a $10 tip for the great service. She was impressed by how good the food and service was. She rushed out of Denny’s and went back to the college. She wanted to find out what this said so she decided to ask an instructor who could translate Sanskrit. She found Dr. Thomas who was trained in linguistics and foreign language. He looked at the box and looked back at her worried. “It says be careful what you wish for! It also says what goes around comes back tenfold” said Dr. Thomas. He continued “It also says Beware ad Danger all around the box, I would stay away from this. It could be really bad and someone may have got rid of it” said Dr. Thomas.

  What did he know it was just a box? It couldn’t really be that harmful could it? Whoever tossed it must have had good reason. Maybe they just had some sort of psychotic issue and thought that the box was causing them harm of some sort. Whatever it was it was probably in their head. She didn’t believe in this bull crap and she would prove it as soon as she got home.

  She went to each of her classes and they felt like they took forever. She would have skipped them, but her parents were paying good money for them. She drove home and while she waited in traffic she got stuck at a red light. “What the hell does a girl have to do to get home by a decent time” she shouted. She was extremely angry with the line of traffic. It felt like it was moving at a slow crawl. Finally, the line of traffic moved faster and faster, almost like what she said actually mattered. When she finally got home she got out of the car and she got into her apartment. She put the box on the table and looked at it with wide eyes. “Ok box I wish that I…”

  Chapter 12: Greg’s Curse

  I woke up the next morning and things felt a little off. I took what the box said personally. I never took curses personally, but when a box shouts it, that’s different. I had a client who I had to see today for an abstract sculpture. They wanted it to be the focal point of their house. I hoped I could deliver, but something told me I wouldn’t be able to. I felt sick and nauseous. I didn’t think it was a cold or a flu either. I felt drained. I hope it didn’t affect my art. I was becoming very popular and successful lately.

  There was a knock on the door. It was my new client and she seemed really nice. “Hi I’m Greg, you must be Ruth!” I said excitedly. “Sit down and let me get you something to drink” I continued.

  “No I think I’m fine she said this won’t take long. I want you to create something abstract and from the heart. I want you to let your entire mind, body, and soul go into this. You have free reign to do as you wish. You will get half the money when I see part of the work completed” she said. She showed me some samples and with that she left. I could smell a waft of her perfume as she left and it had a hint of jasmine and roses. It was alluring and intoxicating.

  I looked at the samples again and looked over the drawings again. I looked at them in detail before trying to create anything. I tried to create something, but nothing was coming to me, and I was growing angry. It was like someone with writers block, but I was having a mental block. “I shouted at the sketchpad why won’t you let me finish this goddamn drawing. I just want to finish this drawing”. Was I really cursed? I wasn’t sure yet but only time would tell. I went to cook myself some lunch and I burned myself on a pan. Then I tripped on the rug and dropped my food everywhere. Either it was a bad day or I was probably cursed. My happiness was soon turning to anger and frustration. Getting rid of the box was probably the worst thing I ever did, but I don’t know where it might be now.

  Chapter 13: Terra’s Wish

  “I wish I was a famous comedian” Terra shouted.

  “When in the answer that you want, Is in the question that you state…Come what may, come what may” said a voice in the box.

  “Are you going to grant the wish or not!” Terra said

  “Be careful what you wish for”

  Terra passed out and when she woke up the next day she was woke up by someone she had never met. It was a girl who claimed to be her assistant. Her name was Gigi and she said she had a show to go to in two hours. I have classes to go to. “Haha you’re funny. You bumped your head harder than I thought. You have a show in a few hours and you’re headlining it. Don’t screw it up. Terra didn’t know what the hell happened, but she really hoped she didn’t bomb this. She remembered when she was the main act on a talent show she really messed up bad. She hoped that this box knew what it was doing and this wish was the right wish. She got in the limo and prepared to go on the long drive to her show. She had prepare for her show and go over some of the jokes she wrote. She hoped that none of the jokes were too edgy. She would have to wait until she went on to find out.

  What will happen to Terra next? What will be the fate of Greg? Find out when the new book comes out in late winter or early spring. The title of the book is going to be called “Twisted Wishes”.